EDA’s Power It Up Industry Insight Conference unites business leaders from the UK’s electrotechnical sector

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  Posted by: electime      18th November 2024

The economy and opportunities for business growth, circularity and sustainability, societal change and its impact on attracting and retaining the next generation of talent were among the strategic themes discussed at the EDA’s Power It Up Industry Insight Conference on Wednesday 13 November 2024. Over 190 senior leaders from 94 EDA businesses, plus representatives from the electrical contracting sector and from trade associations along the supply chain, travelled to Crewe to hear from UK and International speakers on these topics of strategic significance to the UK’s electrotechnical sector.

The conference was opened by Margaret Fitzsimons, CEO at the EDA and Chris Ashworth, EDA President and CEO at CEF.

The impressive speaker programme included entrepreneur, architect, innovator, inspirer and visionary Thomas Rau, who had travelled from the Netherlands to deliver “From Exit to Exist”, challenging business leaders to turn their thinking about the linear economy completely on its head and to recalibrate the relationship between humans, the planet, and our closed system of natural resources. A panel of experts responded to Thomas’s session sharing their thoughts on “Towards a sustainable, circular economy for UK EEE” with panel facilitator and EDA Special Advisor, Paul Reeve CEnv:

  • Ray Molony, journalist and lighting industry expert
  • Yselkla Farmer, CEO, BEAMA
  • Connor Dalton, Director of ESG, Sustainability, and Health and Safety, CEF
  • Chris Sadler, CEO and founder of Kimble Solar, representing the contractor voice
  • Chris Carr, Managing Director, Carr & Carr (Builders) Ltd, and National President of the Federation of Master Builders.

Also making the trip from the Netherlands to speak at Power It Up was Thimon de Jong, Founder of the Whetston think tank, sharing how societal changes and dynamic human behaviour are demanding different approaches from business leaders, mixing far reaching strategic insights with practical take-aways.

Also on the programme were these influential speakers:

  • Tom Diplock, Partner, L.E.K. Consulting
  • Professor Noble Francis, Economics Director, Construction Products Association
  • Chris Carr, Managing Director, Carr & Carr (Builders) Ltd, and National President of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB)
  • Lauren Mistry, Deputy CEO, Youth Employment UK
  • Liz Male MBE, Managing Director, LMC (Liz Male Consulting)

Margaret Fitzsimons, EDA CEO, said “Our aim with this Conference was to engage and stimulate delegates by getting the right people in the room and the right topics on the agenda.  We took people out of their comfort zones and asked them to think out of the box.  But it wasn’t all just blue sky thinking, we also gave them practical solutions to current problems that they could implement straight away.  We wanted them to make new business connections too.  Our feedback has been very positive indeed and is telling us that we achieved our aim.“

The conference was made possible by the support of sponsorship from these EDA businesses:

  1. Aico Ltd
  2. ANEW (buying group)
  3. Ansell Lighting
  4. AWEBB (buying group)
  5. CEF
  6. Cembre Ltd
  7. Edmundson Electrical Ltd
  8. Electrium Sales (A Siemens Company)
  9. EnviroVent Ltd
  10. Fegime UK (buying group)
  11. Hispec Electrical Products Ltd
  12. Infor
  13. Intact Software
  14. JCC
  15. Kerridge Commercial Systems
  16. Legrand Electric Ltd
  17. Lewden
  18. Marshall-Tufflex Ltd
  19. Prysmian Cables and Systems Ltd
  20. Rexel UK Ltd
  21. Shoal Group
  22. The IBA Buying Group Ltd
  23. Vent-Axia
  24. WISKA UK Ltd

The day conference was followed by an evening networking drinks reception and dinner, hosted by the voice of University Challenge, Roger Tilling. After dinner speaker Nicolas Hamilton, racing driver champion, a member of Channel 4’s Formula One coverage team, held the room with his personal story of overcoming adversity to become the first disabled driver to compete in the British Touring Car Championship.

A raffle in the evening raised £2,940 for the Electrical Industries Charity (EIC). The cheque was presented to Jeremey Saunders, Global CEO at CEF, and President and Chair of the EIC, by special guest Nicolas Hamilton.